Flood, its Impact on Education

The floods in Assam this year left hundreds of houses damaged and more than two lakh people had to be accommodated in over 800 relief camps. Incessant rains caused problems for animals too as hundreds of wild animals lost their lives. The impact of the flood waters also caused loss of life and property destroying not only the homes of people but also roads, embankments and bridges in several districts of the State. This disaster brought into light a serious problem faced by the education sector throughout the state.

As per reports and information from the All Assam Primary Teachers’ Association, as many as 15,000 primary schools throughout the state have been damaged due to the havoc wreaked by floods this year. This certainly makes us question the infrastructure of schools and primary education institutions and whether or not they receive enough attention from the State Government. The association of teachers demands for schools to be rebuilt and remunerations to be handed within the next 3 months. Several schools that were spared by the floods still continue to be used as shelter homes and relief camps for homeless flood victims due to which the new academic session hasn’t begun in many schools even after completion of the summer break.

There was also an incident recently which is not only motivating and inspiring but sets an example for schools across the state and the nation. The disheartening scenario did not dash the hopes of the students and teachers of the Faluguri Nayapara Lower Primary School as they continued to study in their pursuit of knowledge, under the open sky even after their school collapsed in erosion caused by the flood waters. The school collapsed after 3 years of continuous erosion and nothing was done to make things better for this school, such is the condition of primary schools in Assam.

An article published in your esteemed Newspaper on 26 June, 2019 – Government LP Schools in Assam Moribund- ended with “Time is running out. If the government schools are to survive, they need to compete with their private counterparts on quality education. However, who will bell the cat? If the government doesn’t do the needful right now, the situation will certainly go out of hand.” Clearly, many other attempts must have been made by various organizations to draw the government’s attention towards a plethora of problems plaguing the education sector within the state and yet we stand where we do.

Only 60.23% of the 3.36 lakh students who appeared for HSLC examination of SEBA this year managed to pass the examination. This is among the lowest in the region after Arunachal which has had a pass percentage of 41.96% in this year’s matriculation exam. Tripura has seen a passing percentage of 64.60% this year, Nagaland – 68.29%, Manipur – 74.69%, Mizoram – 76.69%, and Meghalaya has seen an improvement from 54.04% last year to a whopping 75.38% this year in the Class X examinations under the State board. Assam even stands behind Bihar which has seen a passing percentage of 68.89% in the Class X examination this year and it is among the states that suffer the most amount of flood damage, similar to that of Assam.

Unless the condition of primary schools and other educational institutions improves in all spheres, right from infrastructure to qualified teachers and all other forms of educational aid to students, we can be assured that the state of Assam will continue to remain in a sorry state.

Rifa Deka,

Guwahati.